The First Plan had a single objective, namely, economic growth, with the fundamental assumption that rapid economic growth was the key to development, and that this could not take place without an adequate infrastructural network, including transportation and communication facilities, irrigation systems, public utilities such as power, and so on (Abonyi and Bunyaraks 1989, 23). The fostering of the manufacturing sector was central to the Plan, while the expenditures on agriculture were low and myopic given the sector’s importance, low productivity and the possibilities for crop diversification (Dixon 1999, 81). It was noted by a former Secretary General of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) that the First Plan set a variety of vague and generally unrealistic national targets which were at best projections of likely and desirable trends that seemed to correspond with the intentions of the planners (Phisit 1975, 8, quoted in Dixon 1999, 81). In terms of content, the Plan was primarily an aggregation of the perceived needs of various government agencies for infrastructure development, or a financial allocation plan focusing on infrastructural development (Abonyi and Bunyaraks 1989, 23-24).